Road rage was something quite different at the birth of the motoring age in Salford, 100 years ago this week, illustrated by this humourous story of a motorbike rider arrested for travelling at ‘breakneck speed’.
The rider not only revved his motor all the way to 15 miles per hour, he also startled a policeman and narrowly avoided hiting a horse on Patrricroft Bridge.
Eccles Magistrates Court heard that P.C. Woodworth was on point duty on Patricroft Bridge on June 20 1915 at 9.20pm, directing what was then called ‘heavy traffic’.
The constable told the court that he was helping to keep cars moving smoothly at the crossroad junction of Worsley Road, Barton Road and Liverpool Road – don’t forget there were no traffic lights in operation in those days.
Suddenly a motorcycle came hurtling over the hump of the bridge coming from the direction of Eccles at the death-defying speed of 15 miles per hour which caused the officer to leap out of the way in fear for his own life.
This daredevil also swerved to miss a horse, somehow managing to ride underneath its neck – no mean feat – and carried on without stopping.
The offending motorist was tracked down and named as George Barker who resided in Pendleton.
In court he was charged with, ‘driving a motorcycle at a speed dangerous to the public using the highway’.
A chap called William Bethel who lived in Nelson Street, Patricroft corrobarated P.C. Woodworth’s story and said that he considered the defendant was endangering the public by riding the motorcycle over the bridge as he did.
Further damning evidence was given by Superintendant Keys who pointed out that the defendant had only been licenced to drive the motorcycle since 15 May – four weeks earlier.
The officer suggested the arrested man should have had practiced on quiet country lanes before driving through town traffic and he could not have selected a worse place than Patricroft Bridge.
Mr Parker threw himself at the mercy of the Magistrates and stated that he was on the wrong side of the road as he approached Patricroft Bridge.
The Bench imposed a fine of £2 and 2 shillings on him, a not-inconsiderable sum in those days.
One of the unnamed Magistrates said that “motorcyclists think that they are entitled to monopolize the roads” and warned him of his future conduct when riding.
I delved a little deeper into this story and was amazed to find out that up until 1931 one licence covered drivers for both cars and motorcycles and that formal driving tests were not introduced until April 1934.
It would appear that basically anybody aged over 16 if they had the money could purchase a motorcycle or car and be unleashed on the road without passing a driving test.
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